PARIS: Demi Vollering overcame various obstacles en route to claiming her maiden Tour de France Femmes title with a dominant showing in the final time trial, a 22.6km loop beginning and ending in Pau, on Sunday. Marlen Reusser (SD Worx) clocked 29 minutes 15 seconds to win the time trial, with her team mate Vollering finishing second fastest in stage eight to claim a comfortable victory, though the race was far from smooth sailing for the Dutch rider. In stage five, Vollering got a 20-second penalty for riding in the slipstream of her SD Worx team director Danny Stam’s car, with Stam later being banned for “dangerous” overtaking and making “inappropriate comments”. Despite the setback, Vollering roared into the lead in the penultimate stage, claiming a commanding victory to enter the finale with a sizeable 1:50 advantage. Vollering, who finished in second place behind compatriot Annemiek van Vleuten last year, defended her lead with ease to claim a first Grand Tour win. Vollering’s team mate Lotte Kopecky of Belgium came second in the overall standings, while Poland’s Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) took third place to match her finish in last year’s edition.